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Rafael dos Anjos v Kamaru Usman Preview & Betting Tips

A Night to Remember

We’re looking at Rafael dos Anjos v Kamaru Usman tips and odds. Followers of mixed martial arts have a real treat in store on November 30. At the Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort, the Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters series is scheduled to be fought to a conclusion in front of a sell-out audience, as well as live TV cameras broadcasting the action across the globe. Let’s check out the best Rafael dos Anjos v Kamaru Usman preview and tips.

Fox Sport has aired the UFC produced reality TV programme throughout; we have now arrived at what promised to be an enthralling series finale, with some fascinating bouts scheduled. With each of the gladiators involved fighting for their future in the game, this will be a night of combat sports you won’t be able to take your eyes off.

Fighting for a Win

Those who have followed the series from the start will be thrilled we have arrived at the final leg; however, you don’t have to be a dedicated fan of the show to enjoy fight night. We have well-matched bouts in place and bookmakers have stepped in to ensure you can add a bit more to the occasion with a bet. Yes, live MMA is great, but watching live MMA and being paid for it thanks to a winning bet is something else entirely.

To help guide you towards profit, we have brought in our crack team of fighting tipsters who have run over the form and figures, previewing our pick of the evening’s bouts. Let’s deliver a blow to the bookies…

Fight of the Night

The fight we are looking forward to most comes from the welterweight category where Rafael dos Anjos battles it out with Kamaru Usman. The former is a 34-year-old Brazilian born in Rio de Janeiro and fighting out of his home city. He has campaigned at both lightweight and welterweight during his career; however, this represents his final real crack at the big time, especially if he doesn’t get the result he is hoping for.

With a background fighting in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, Anjos has fought 38 times previously under mixed martial arts rules; he has amassed a record reading 28 wins against 10 defeats. Of his victories, he has bagged 14 on points, nine by submission and only five by knockout, proving he is a technical fighter who prefers to take it to the mat and use his BJJ experience to out-work and out-class opponents.

Rafael has lost seven by decision; two by knockout and one by submission. He is coming in on the back of a points defeat at the hands of Colby Covington on UFC 225 in the summer of this year; here he came off second best for the interim UFC welterweight championship in Chicago. That result ended a three-fight winning run; however, it is worth knowing he has also lost half of his last six bouts. This means failure to beat Usman could, very well, spell the end of the road; certainly as a respected contender for the championship.

Closer Look at the Form

Taking a closer look at the form during that six-fight run, we see two of his three defeats have come by decision; one to Tony Ferguson in Mexico two years ago and that loss to Covington last time. The other was a TKO result suffered to Eddie Alvarez in Las Vegas for the UFC lightweight title in the summer of 2016, halted in the first round under an attack of heavy punches.

The Alvarez defeat aside, that would tell us that if you are going to back against Anjos winning this fight it’ll be worth taking a close look at the method of victory market; consider getting your stake money down on a points reverse at a decent price.

Prefer to keep the Brazilian on side? He won three fights on the bounce between June 2017 and December the same year with two of those also coming on the scorecards. That purple patch started with the defeat of Tarec Saffiedine over three rounds when making his welterweight debut.

It was followed by an inside the distance cheer over Neil Magny next time out, getting the better of his rival courtesy of an arm-triangle choke. The trio was completed when Robbie Lawler was out-pointed on a thrilling night in Winnipeg, Canada to set-up this clash.

Again, that form gives us a strong nudge towards the method of victory market of betting. If you rate the chances of dos Anjos, we’d suggest backing him to continue his run of points victories. This promises to be a tactical bout and we’d be surprised, given what’s at stake, to see either man throw caution to the wind in the early stages.

Will Nigerian Nightmare Live Up to His Name?

31-year-old Nigerian Kamaru Usman fights out of Dallas, Texas; he will step into the octagon on fight night as the form fighter of the two. The Benin City pride has won 13 of his previous 14; the stats prove he’s a genuine all-rounder with six victories coming by way of decision and another six by knockout.

The spare submission win came over Hayder Hassan in Las Vegas on the Ultimate Fighter 21; it was a result that earned the victor a performance of the night bonus back in July 2015. The one loss on Usman’s record so far came very early in his MMA career when suffering a submission defeat to Jose Caceres – rear naked chokehold – in Florida 2013.

Thankfully for Kamaru and his team, losing wasn’t a feeling they had to get used to and they’ve gone on an impressive run of victories since. He was last seen beating Demian Maia in Chile over five rounds in May of this year; that was his second decision in two starts, and his six points win from seven contests. As punters that’s a run we really must respect, and it’ll ensure there’s plenty of interest on the Usman decision victory. If you plan on backing him to get the desired result, we really would suggest you follow the trends and take him to do it on points.

Inactivity an Issue?

There’s little doubt Kamaru would’ve hoped to have been a little busier in the lead up to this contest, given its importance and the fact he hasn’t been seen in competitive action since the spring will put a few off. The reason for that is no fault of his own, however, previous bouts falling victim to opponent injury and call-off.

Will he enter the octagon rusty and off the pace? Or has the time away allowed him to reflect and become clear on what he wants from this set-up? We’d go with the latter and Usman to win on decision is our advice.